Page 59 of Hunted By the Headless Horseman
More stern nods. More glaring eyes. And noses curling with disgust. Disgust. A loathsome word that could never apply to my Belle.
Coming full circle, remaining behind his chair, Thaddeus does a cursory sweep of the others. “But there will be no trial by fire. She will not be offered the chance to repent in flames for what she did. No, that is far too merciful.”
“She will be bound to me in flesh, marked with the sacred brand that signifies her as mine.” His voice has dropped an octave, but it carries to every corner of the room with a chilling finality. They are venom to me, one I will spit out and shove back down his worthless throat.
Gripping the edges of his chair, Thaddeus scrutinizes the robed figures. “She will be imprisoned within my house, within my bed, until she gives me what I am owed. She will have the honor of bearing my seed, of redeeming herself in my eyes and the eyes of our Covenant. And if, after a year, no child is conceived…”
A furious tremor rips through me at the bastard who allows the silence to hang in the air, his eyes flicking up to meet the sheriff’s, who shifts uncomfortably under his gaze. “Then,”—he hisses,—“I will see to it that she burns. Her ashes will serve as a reminder of what happens to those who defy the Covenant.”
Rage seethes through me, dark and dangerous, monstrous. Thaddeus will soon know what it truly means to come face-to-face with the blackest beast in these mountains. One who will protect his beauty with every fiber of his being, whatever the cost.
It takes everything in me not to charge through the window, shattering glass, and bringing nothing but blood and punishment.
“I questioned her, you know,” the sheriff says, an undercurrent of annoyance in his tone. “Belle claimed she didn’t know anything, but she gave evidence of the wounds dealt to her. She’s much stronger and more intelligent than I’ve given her credit for. That woman’s been through hell, but she’s stubborn, and you know as well as I do, she won’t file a report. Problem is, she’s got the whole town wrapped around her little finger.”
A muscle in his jaw ticks as Thaddeus listens, and for a moment, I catch the flash of anger ripple through the Elder like a storm cloud.
“Of course, she won’t file a report. She knows she’s holding onto her freedom by a slim thread. She knows I am coming for her and is undoubtedly spinning her little web, spreading rumors and lies to the townspeople. Another reason a liberated woman is dangerous—as Helen of Troy kindled a war over her beauty. And Eve ate the forbidden fruit. All the more reason to reclaim her for my bed, where she belongs. Motherhood is the highest calling, and she will come to accept such.”
Feral ice carves through me while blood roars in my ears. Wherever my heart lies, it is hammering, thundering.
“She’s made herself a pillar of that community.” The Sheriffshrugs. “Got half the town eating out of her hand. And if she decides to start talking…Well, she could stir up more trouble than she’s worth. Women always do,” he mutters.
“As for the town?” Thaddeus spat, stepping closer to the sheriff, his voice dripping with disdain. “Let them adore her, let them whisper their praises and pretend she’s some saint reborn. When her sin is revealed, it will make her fall all the greater.
“Regardless, it changes nothing,” he adds, twisting his lips into a cruel smirk. “Because at the end of the day, she ismine.And I’ll make her remember that. And ultimately, the Council will not quarrel with us. They know better. Nor would they endanger their way of life for the sake of one woman, no matter how charming she is.”
I roll my eyes, grimacing at the hypocrisy. One moment, she is worthy of a comparison to Helen of Troy and Eve. The next, she is not worthy of the town defending her honor.
“It’s clear I made a grievous error delegating this responsibility. It is mine and mine alone.” Something twisted and gruesome flickers in his eyes. “Once I set everything in order, I will personally collect my wife. And when she’s back where she belongs, bound in flesh and blood and screaming my name, they’ll understand that there’s no place for a woman like her to rise above a man like me.”
By thunder!—I will castrate him as I did Edmund Thorne. I’ll drag him through the Appalachian Mountains until the flesh is ripped from his worthless corpse. Then I’ll hang that withered corpse in the center of their damned Covenant for all to see.
He does not deserve to breathe her air. He does not deserve to look upon her.
I swallow poisonous rage, biding my time.
A few minutes later, the meeting adjourns, and Thaddeus emerges from the meeting hall after the others have gone.
His broad shoulders cast a long shadow against the lantern light as he advances toward another building deeper within the compound. The night air is heavy with a damp chill clinging to the skin. The soft hum of the generators fadesinto the background, swallowed by the blanket of darkness…and the steps of Thaddeus, along with the swish of his robe.
Gritting my teeth, I trail behind him, slipping from shadow to shadow. Cane gripped like an extension of my hand, I blend into the darkness. Whatever residence the blackguard is aiming for, it borders the thick woods at the edge of the compound.
Thaddeus moves with purpose, boots crunching against the crude path of stones and dirt, his every gesture exuding that same cold, arrogant confidence from the meeting.
When Thaddeus slows, I pause, eclipsed by the long shadows of the great tree nearby. The Elder comes to an abrupt halt in the middle of the path, his posture stiffening. My breath falters in my throat.
Thaddeus inclines his head to one side, then the other, ears pricked like a predator scenting the air, his movements eerily still. A faint smile tugs at the corner of the devil’s mouth, almost as if he can feel the eyes on him.
Glancing over his shoulder, the Elder lets his gaze drift over the surrounding darkness, searching, hunting. “Come out,” he murmurs into the void, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade. “I know you’re there.”
One corner of my mouth twists into a leering smirk. I relax my grip on my cane. I don’t bother holding my breath or stepping further into the shadows.
No, I will not show myself, nor will I hide. Instead, I let my presence linger on the periphery of Thaddeus’s awareness, like the whisper of wind against the nape of his neck.Let him believe it’s a phantom.I narrow my eyes upon the bastard who turns in a slow, calculated circle.Let him believe it’s a monster curling its chilling breath along the back of his neck.
For a moment, Thaddeus stands there, head still tilted as if listening, as if trying to catch a hint of movement in the darkness. I remain motionless with an icy determination steadying me as I behold the flicker of uncertainty that crosses Thaddeus’s features. It’s subtle, just a tightening at the corner of his eyes, a slight furrow of his brow.
But I see it. It triggers an electric thrill up my spine andreinforces my protection, my possession of the woman I love, the huntress of my heart.
